George Weigel, known now as a "Catholic scholar," was the official biographer for John Paul II, his hero. In regard to the ginned up controversy over Catholic hospitals offering contraception coverage for non-Catholic employees--that's all it's about, folks--Weigel said:
"This has struck a tribal nerve in Catholicism," Catholic scholar George Weigel said to Chuck Todd on the Daily Rundown. "The Catholic Church has been beaten up over the last 10 or 11 years and I think Catholics are tired of the government and others beating up on the church."
I doubt every bit of that. In the first place, since 98% of Roman Catholics practice some form of birth control, where's the nerve been struck? Only among the culture-warrior bishops and bureaucratic apparatchiks of Roman-dom.
The Catholic church has been beaten up over the last 10 or 11 years? As Charles Pierce puts it: "The Church has been 'beaten up' over the last 10 or 12 years because, at its highest possible echelons, it functioned as an international conspiracy to obstruct justice regarding the crime of sexual assault."
Perhaps my experience with Roman Catholics is not representative, but, of the many whom I know, precisely none would say that the government is beating up on the church. In fact, they are more likely to say that the biggest problem in the church is clueless bishops.
In any case, it appears the administration is preparing to cave on its utterly reasonable health care requirements. Why should Catholic hospitals be exempt from offering contraception coverage to non-Catholic employees? How is that not an infringement on the religious beliefs of those employees?
Besides, how it is some kind of persecution for an organization providing health care to follow the law if it wishes to retain a tax break?
Their power play looks like it's working. Which is too bad because it's all a big bluff.

